SolidCore vs. OrangeTheory

[Anonymous]

I know they are differently oriented workouts, but for anyone who has done both, can you weight the pros & cons of both? What did you like or not like about either? What did you feel was better matched for your goals?

[Anonymous]

as you said, they are vastly different. Solidcore is zero impact, not really cardio. It's like pilates on crack. Weight resistance on the megaformer machines. Simple things like squats and lunges and planks, but made extremely difficult due to the weight attached to the machine.

Orange Theory is cardio. You might be on the treadmill for 30 minutes, changing up your speed - 5 sprint, 5 run, 5 jog, over and over. Or rowing. Then 30 min of weights. They have you on a HR monitor and can monitor you. Your name is on the screen, so you can follow your progress. It really depends on what you like to do and what you want out of a workout.

I love love love solidcore and think it's SO SO SO hard, but I still feel like I need to sprint around the block after I'm done bc I need to feel my heart racing in order to feel like I've worked out. So OTF is better in that aspect.

[Anonymous]

Do both have locker rooms?

Do they provide towels? Or at least sweat towels?

[Anonymous]

No towels provided. They have single locked bathrooms and single locked toilets, but no big locker rooms.

[Anonymous]

I have done both. I enjoyed Orangetheory much more, but have never been as sore as I was after Solidcore! It clearly got to muscles I don't use much, but I just didn't like the classes. They move too fast and the cues were hard to follow. I'm sure it gets easier the more you go, and I have several friends who are hard-core devotees.

Orangetheory is much more cardio-focused. I enjoyed the mix of exercises and it's adaptable to any fitness level, so you can push yourself more as you get stronger -- no risk of plateauing, at least not for a long while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No towels provided. They have single locked bathrooms and single locked toilets, but no big locker rooms.

Solidcore provides towels.

[Anonymous]

I've done a lot of both in Arlington and the vibe at OTF is much friendlier. I also love tracking my progress on the screen and combining cardio and weights. Solidcore was so painful that I started to dread it (although I got serious results) and at least in Arlington the female instructors had a "I'm a former ballet diva" attitude that I didn't love. They pretended to be nice but they weren't.